Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 76953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“It was Perish,” I reminded her.
“Right. So did he grumble reassurances in your ear?”
“No. He did… check me over after, though.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh. Where?” she asked, invested.
“All over.”
“What I wouldn’t give to be checked all over right about now…”
“Anyway,” I said, shooting her a smile. “I can get you a new key to my apartment so you can crash there tonight.”
“I’ll take you up on that. Did you notice that the minute you got older than twenty-five, your back suddenly has opinions on the thickness of cushions? I used to be able to sleep anywhere. It took me like five minutes to climb off that couch this morning.”
“I spent an ungodly amount of money on my new bed. It adjusts up and down at the head and feet. Worth every penny too.”
“God, we’re getting old. Okay. I think we need to have a margarita night before I leave town.”
“You might need to plan to be in town longer than a night or two. You know what it’s like trying to coordinate schedules now.”
“Like trying to herd cats. Alright. Fine. I will stay in town until we have a girls’ night. After that, your couch is all yours. Though I can’t guarantee that I won’t climb onto the other side of your bed in the middle of the night if the cushions don’t agree with me.”
We spent the next hour catching up, making plans, and texting the girls.
This, I decided, was just what I needed.
Something else to focus on other than Perish and the way my body warmed each time I even thought of him.
CHAPTER SIX
Perish
“Was that Luca Grassi pulling out of the lot?” I asked as I came in from the backyard, where I’d been doing a deep watering of a struggling patch of new grass in the high-traffic area around the new pool. It was hard to keep things growing there with all the damn chemicals trailing down everyone’s bodies. But no one wanted to walk on sparse grass and dirt on the way back from swimming.
“Yeah,” Rune, the older of the twins, said. “Came in to talk to Fallon.”
“Did they find out anything new?”
“Doesn’t sound like it. But he wanted to reassure Fallon that they’re pulling out all the stops. Think he’s worried about the club being pissed about one of the girls being at risk. Especially since Gracie has several events booked at their venue over the summer.”
My stomach knotted at the idea of her at risk. It was almost strong enough to distract me from the way her name conjured up images I thought I’d finally started to put behind me.
“Think Fallon is pissed?” I asked, making a beeline to the bar. If I kept trying to mask the sudden attraction I felt toward Gracie, I was going to quickly develop a damn problem.
“No, but the mob guys are just as protective of their women as we are, so they’re worried. Speaking of, don’t plan any parties next Saturday.”
“Why not?”
“The girls are doing a sleepover here.”
Fuck.
Great.
Maybe I needed to lock myself in my room all night. Or, better yet, get a hotel room. Stab myself in the leg and spend the night in the hospital. Anything to not be close to her when she was at the club.
“Why here?”
“Layna said everyone’s places are too small to fit everyone. I think they just want to steal our liquor to pre-game and walk to Chaz’s from here.”
“And you’re going to let them?”
“Let them what?” Rune asked, brows drawing together over his dark eyes.
“Go out to the bar drunk.” What if their defenses were low? What if men decided to take advantage of that fact?
To that, Rune’s lips curved up, making two dimples wedge deep into his cheeks. “Have you met my cousins? We can’t stop them from doing shit.”
“Yeah, but what if some shitheads get ideas?”
“Clearly, you were not forced to be their human punching bags when they were doing martial arts training,” he said. “Trust me, they can take care of themselves. Especially in a group.”
“But there was just a drive-by. Aren’t they at risk?”
Rune’s head cocked to the side, curiosity piqued. “Fallon said we weren’t doing a lockdown.”
“But he said to be aware.”
“Think he accepts this isn’t about us. Or least of all, the girls. Unless you got a reason to think otherwise.”
“No. Just… want them to be safe.”
“Knowing Layna, she will rope Spike and Cain into escorting them.”
A rumble started deep in my throat that sounded a lot like a growl, but I managed to catch it early enough and play it off by clearing my throat.
The fuck was that?
Jealousy?
That Spike and Cain would go have fun with the girls? With Gracie? So what? She was as off-limits to them as she was to me. Nothing was going to happen.
Nothing except them getting to share in her smiles, her laugh, her joy.